Square Pie delivers a special Philly message to the Atlanta Braves pizza order

Like a good pizza joke, a good Philly burn is all about the delivery, and the folks over at Square Pie in Queen Village knocked it out of the park on both fronts Sunday by delivering a special message to the Atlanta Braves in their pizza order.

Inside the top lid of one of the 10 pizzas Square Pie sent to Citizens Bank Park for the Braves during their three-game series against the Phillies, they included a handwritten message:

“Dear Atlanta,

Thank you so much for choosing us. We are honored and would love to have you at Square Pie anytime. But, yous are still in South Philly so …”

They then ended the sentence with a duct-taped picture of Bryce Harper staring down Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia and signed it, “XO, Square Pie.”

The photo comes from the Phillies divisional series against the Braves last year, after Harper homered, ran the bases, and stared down Arcia — who’d mocked his performance in a previous game with “Attaboy Harper.” That phrase, and the resulting homer and glare from Harper in response, spawned memes, and T-shirts across Philly.

Square Pie owner Giuliano Lozzi, a born-and-bred South Philadelphian, said his cousin, Gianni Lozzi, a high school teacher who helps out at the shop on the weekends, came up with the idea.

“I said ‘F it! I love it!’” he recalled. “It was the nicest joke ever.”

The Braves called ahead last week to place the order, Lozzi said, but he doesn’t know how they heard about his restaurant. While he normally wouldn’t be open on Easter Sunday, Lozzi decided to rise to the occasion and make an exception to fill the order of 10 pies.

But the team’s requests for specialty pizzas that are not on his menu was a bridge too far.

“I denied stuff they wanted like Hawaiian pies, barbecue chicken, and a bunch of other crap. I told them ‘This is our menu, let me do what I do best for you,’” he said. “But if it was the Phillies or Flyers, 100% I would have done it.”

Lozzi said the Braves staffer he worked with was professional and nice. He ordered a variety of pies, including the pancetta and porchetta.

“They wanted a supreme pie too. I don’t know what that is, but I know what that is, so we threw a bunch of crap on it,” he said (referring to a bevy of meat toppings and not actual crap).

Lozzi’s staffers, one of whom is actually a Braves fan (for shame!) delivered the pizzas, but they weren’t able to get into the clubhouse to see the team’s reaction, he said.

When I asked if there were any other burns against the Braves Lozzi considered, like making a giant Phillies “P” in pepperonis on one (or all) of the pies, he told me “that would have been too much.”

“That’s straight disrespectful,” he said.

The Phillies marked their first win against the Braves in the three-game series Sunday. Could Square Pie be responsible for the win, as some on social media have suggested?

“I’d like to think so but we needed that win. You can’t get swept in your home opener weekend,” Lozzi said. “If anything, I’m just glad they won.”